We escaped California relatively unscathed and crossed into Oregon on October 24.  Unlike California, or Canada for that matter, we were able to freely enter Oregon without being accosted by the Agricultural Police or other such Rent-a-Cops.  Don’t tell anyone, but we knowingly transported delicious California vegetables and fruits into the cool little southern Oregon city of Brookings.  Yes, reckless behavior, I know.   Life is better  sometimes when it’s lived on the edge.

Brookings is a small little city just over the California border that has all the “amenities” that we look for while on the road.  Two small breweries, a nice grocery store, a steelhead fishery, and simply the best visitor center we have ever seen.  If you are ever heading north on 101 into Oregon, please make a point to stop at the Oregon Welcome Center at Crissey Field State Park.  Without question, it is the nicest and most informative visitor center we have ever seen, and it’s beautifully situated right on the gorgeous Oregon Coast.  We chatted with “LaVeeta” for 15 or 20 minutes, and she was simply amazing at providing us with all the information we needed for our trip up the Oregon Coast.  So I don’t get myself in trouble, I’d characterize LaVeeta as being a retired woman in her 60’s or 70’s, full of energy, and acting like a woman half her age.  I want to be LaVeeta when I grow up.  Funny story…we visited one of the local breweries (Chetco Brewing Company) later that day, and who walks in the door to enjoy a frosty beverage but LaVeeta!  She said “hey, I know you” and I said “hello, LaVeeta, I know you too, and you are the only person I know from Brookings”!  What a nice gal, so nice that we bought her a beer.  She asked me later “why didn’t you ask me for a reference on a brewery”?  I replied “well, LaVeeta, I apologize for saying this, but you didn’t look like the beer-drinking type”.  I was apparently very wrong…it wasn’t the first time, it certainly won’t be the last.

We camped just north of town at the Harris Beach State Park (recommended by LaVeeta), located immediatley adjacent to the coast.  What an awesome state park…clean, simple, and free hot showers!   We could even ride our bikes into town…ahhh, the simple pleasures in life.  On our first night, we got in a pissing contest after dark with a pack of aggressive raccoons invading our site and looking for a free meal.  It took many stones and a sore shoulder to ward them off.  It was somewhat annoying, and possibly even a little spooky, but it made for some fun around the campfire as I pelted those critters with fastballs.  That’s a great segue to reflect on our time watching and listening to our beloved Red Sox clawing their way to another World Series Championship.  It’s yet another great time to be a Boston sports fan, isn’t it?  Winning never gets old, my friends.  Speaking of friends, on the second night, we made friends with a cute little kitten that came by just before dark.  He too was looking for a free meal, an apparent stray kitten living on its own.  He couldn’t have been more than 6 months old, and he was very skittish and wouldn’t allow us to get too close to him.  I made a friend out of him by feeding him a little leftover sausage we had in the fridge, and he hung around with us on the picnic table for a couple hours into the night.  It was yet another Grizzly Adams type of experience, but not quite as wild and sportive as when I tamed that bald eagle up in northern Idaho earlier in our journey.  Anyway, we loved this campground and its close proximity to the ocean and to town, and because it’s an Oregon State Park, it’s well-managed, clean, and it’s not California.  We had cocktail hour both nights on the cliffs and on the beach adjacent to the campground.  We met some very nice folks from Chickaaaago (Chicago), Marry and Eric, one evening as we watched the sun set over the cliffs out in the ocean.  They too were on an epic journey around the country and were coming from the north to the south.  We picked their brains and they picked our south-to-north brains, so the information sharing couldn’t have worked out much better.  They have a great little product called “Capsurz”, which is hat retention system that they’ve patented and are in the process of marketing and distributing.  On their journey, they were making a handful of stops to see their customers and retailers, which is a brilliant way to justify the epic roadtrip!  Marry and Eric, we enjoyed the conversation and sunset with you, and hope that your excellent adventure is going well.  The next evening, we parked our beach chairs on the sand and guzzled Tallboy PBR’s as we watched the waves crash and the sun set in front of us.  It was a truly remarkable way to start our Oregon Coast adventure.  Two miles into the Oregon Coast, and we are in love already.  Oregon, we are available for the next 30 days or so…can we see you again, every day?

The water levels in the local Chetco River were still too low to lure the steelhead in from the ocean and upriver toward fresh water to spawn.  Once again, I was foiled for my first hook into a chromer, this time by environmental conditions.  Payback will be a bitch, Mr. Steelhead, and I will finally get my day to shine sooner than you think.  Chrome or bust, here we come.  Oregon rocks!